Borgia (TV series)
Borgia is a French-German-Czech-Italian historical drama television series created by Tom Fontana for Canal+, ZDF, ORF, and Sky Italia. The show recounts the Borgia family's rise to power and subsequent domination of the Papal States during the Renaissance.
Borgia debuted in Italy on Sky Cinema 1 on 10 July 2011. It was since renewed for a second season, which premiered in France on Canal+ on 18 March 2013. A third and final season premiered in France on Canal+ on 15 September 2014. The series finale aired in France on Canal+ on 27 October 2014 as the 38th episode overall.
Production
The series is produced by Atlantique Productions, a subsidiary of Lagardère Entertainment, for French premium-pay TV Canal+ in association with EOS Entertainment, and was filmed in the Czech Republic and Italy. Czech production was held by company Etic films. International distribution is handled by Beta Film GmbH. Season 3 was filmed between 27 May 2013 and 27 January 2014.International production
Despite being a French-German-Czech-Italian production, the whole setup is very international. The series creator, producer, and lead writer Tom Fontana, as well as other writers including Sean Whitesell, Gina Gionfriddo, and Larry Cohen are all American. Season 2 sees French writer Audrey Fouché join the writing team.The directors come from several different parts of Europe: Oliver Hirschbiegel and Christoph Schrewe are German, Dearbhla Walsh is Irish, Metin Hüseyin is British and Thomas Vincent is French. Each director is in charge of directing at least two consecutive episodes before handing the series over to a new director.
The main character, Rodrigo Borgia, is portrayed by American actor John Doman. The rest of the cast hails from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Czech Republic, but countries like Republic of Ireland, Denmark, and Spain and several others are also represented.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- John Doman as Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI
- Mark Ryder as Cesare Borgia
- Stanley Weber as Juan Borgia and Francesco Borgia
- Isolda Dychauk as Lucrezia Borgia
- Marta Gastini as Giulia Farnese
- Diarmuid Noyes as Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
- Art Malik as Francesc Gacet, Rodrigo Borgia's secretary
- Assumpta Serna as Vannozza Cattanei
- Christian McKay as Cardinal Ascanio Sforza
- Scott Winters as Cardinal Raffaele Riario-Sansoni
- Dejan Čukić as Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere
Recurring cast
- Victor Schefé as Johann Burchard
- Paul Brennen as Agapito Geraldini, Cesare's secretary
- Andrea Sawatzki as Adriana de Mila, Lucrezia's governess
- Michael Fitzgerald as Cardinal Oliviero Carafa
- Miroslav Táborský as Cardinal Giambattista Orsini
- Alejandro Albarracín as Alfonso di Calabria
- Sean Campion as Virginio Orsini
- Karel Dobrý as Cardinal Giovanni Colonna
- Andrew Hawley as Alfonso d'Este
- Predrag Bjelac as Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini
- Nicolás Belmonte as Shahzadeh Djem
- Adam Misík as Goffredo Borgia
- Raimund Wallisch as Alfonso II of Naples
- Richard Southgate as Marcantonio Colonna
- Marc Duret as Cardinal Guillaume Briçonnet
- Petr Vanek as Miguel de Corella
- Sebastian Urzendowsky as Cardinal Juan Borgia Lanzol
- Manuel Rubey as Giovanni Sforza
- John Bradley West as Giovanni de' Medici
- Josef Jelínek as Cardinal Federico Sanseverino
- Tereza Vorísková as Fiametta Michaelis, Cesare's lover
- Josef Badalec as Cardinal Pedro Luis Borgia Lanzol
- Joseph Beattie as King Louis XII of France
- Paloma Bloyd as Princess Carlotta d'Aragona
- Rafael Cebrián as Rodrigo Borgia Lanzol, 'el pequeño'
- Matt Di Angelo as Cardinal Francesco Alidosi
- Peter Hosking as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Savelli
- Babsie Steger as Giovanna Farnese
Guest starring
- Tom Wlaschiha as Philip of Habsburg
- Vadim Glowna as Cardinal Jorge da Costa
- Mónica Lopera as Maria Enriquez de Luna
- Jiri Madl as Francesco Remolino d'Ilerda
- Eliska Krenková as Sancia of Squillace
- Scott Cleverdon as Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
- Davide Lipari as Sigismondo d'Este
- Alexandra Oppo as Isabella d'Este
- César Domboy as Guy de Laval
- Bohdan Petrovic Esek as Cardinal Francesco Borgia
- Michael Bilington as Orsino Orsini Migliorati
- Udo Kier as Pope Innocent VIII
- Dave Legeno as Guidobaldo da Montefeltro
- Jirí Ornest as Cardinal Ardicino della Porta
- Marek Vasut as Fabrizio Colonna
- Amber Rose Revah as Maacah bat Talmai, Juan's lover
- Simon Larvaron as King Charles VIII of France
- David Atrakchi as Yves D'Allegre, French captain
- Marco Cassini as Pietro Bembo
- Antoine Cholet as Cardinal Georges D'Amboise
- Thibaut Evrard as Niccolò Machiavelli
- Josef Karas as Domenico Doria, Papal Guard commander
- Valentina Cervi as Caterina Sforza
- Iain Glen as Girolamo Savonarola
- Richard McCabe as King Frederick IV of Naples
- Daisy Lewis as Maria Diaz Garlon, Cesare's lover
- Rudolf Martin as Franceschetto Cybo
- Javier Godino as Dionigi di Naldo
- Paul Hamy as Simon d'Auxerre
- Lorenzo Richelmy as Sidonius Grimani
- Luka Peroš as Imola man
- Ellie Darcey-Alden as Felice della Rovere
Episodes
Season 1 - Borgia: Faith and Fear (2011)
Season 2 - Borgia: Rules of Love, Rules of War (2013)
Season 3 - Borgia: Triumph and Oblivion (2014)
The third season premiered on Netflix on 1 November 2014.